Exciting Times

There has been so much going on lately, mostly wonderful! I have been working on my flower drawings, but have not had a chance to post the last few. I am working on articles and a tutorial for 12 Months in View and am going to be offering two workshops at Etsy's World Craft Party 2013 at the Arcade in Bridgeport, CT. That takes place on Thursday, June 20th. I was also asked today if I would be interested in teaching papermaking workshops through an organization I have been involved with. You know I said yes!

I've also signed up for two summer blog challenges. One is a photography scavenger hunt and the other is a Summer of Color.

Plus I have been busy with outdoor adventures and have been posting that news on my nature/horticulture blog.

I will be getting this blog updated with all of this as soon as I am able.

Stratford Arts Guild

Last evening I attended the monthly meeting of the Stratford Arts Guild. One of my New Year goals was to get involved with this group. I was a little apprehensive, as one often is when entering a new situation and meeting new people. I wasn't sure how I would be received. Their website encourages artists and others from the community to attend the meetings, so I wasn't too worried. Artists can be an intimidating group of people if they choose to be. Not so with this group, thankfully! I was immediately welcomed, introduced to everyone and had several good conversations.

Roger, the president of the Guild, told me that for many years Stratford had a yearly nationally recognized juried art show. The event was canceled about twenty five years ago. The Guild is hoping to revive it. Now is a good time as plans are moving forward with the re-opening of the Stratford Festival Theater and the huge success of the newly opened Two Roads Brewing Co. Stratford is poised to be a tourist destination once again. I plan to do my best to help the Stratford Arts Guild achieve their goals.

Researching Shakespeare's Flowers

I enjoyed creating the Foxgloves mixed media paintings and would like to create a series of different flowers with a common theme. At first I was thinking that foxgloves fit into a cottage garden theme. Thinking about it further, I wondered if foxgloves were mentioned by William Shakespeare in any of his writings. A theme of plants mentioned in the works of Shakespeare would be timely as my town of Stratford, CT will be hosting the Stratford Sister Cities 2014 Reunion. Work is ongoing to renovate the Shakespeare  Festival Theater.

Doing some research I found that foxgloves are among the over 150 plants mentioned by Shakespeare, though I could not find the literary reference. I will continue to look through available sources for listings of both plants and where they are quoted. If I give myself a timeline of creating one painting a month until August 2014, which is when the reunion will occur I believe, I will have 20 works. That will be a nice body of work to have and display.